Holy Mass was, along with the local priest, rev. Ivan Tolj and several priests from neighbouring parishes, led by the Vicar General of Sarajevo Archdiocese, Msgr. Slađan Ćosić.

The spiritual program before Holy Mass began at the chapel of St. Anthony the Great which is since 1936, when it was built, a site of pilgrimage for the faithful of all religions and that was the reason for the establishment of the parish in 1971. The prayer at the chapel was led by Robert Čabraja, permanent deacon of Sarajevo Archdiocese, who is serving in the parish. Then followed the procession with the rosary, during which a statue of the saint was carried.

During the Holy Mass, together with two altar boys, the deacon Čabraja was serving, and singing was animated by the Croatian musician of spiritual songs Luka Balvan.

Commenting on the Gospel of the day, in which Jesus explains the rich young man how to be perfect, to realize the Kingdom of Heaven, Msgr. Ćosić in the homily explained that we - in addition to what we as Christians are called to live in accordance with God’s commandments - are called to live a sincere and devoted love for God. “Our trust in God grows from love, and this is what gives meaning to our human and religious life - to surrender in the hands of God. It encourages us, and in our lives we try to keep and live by God’s commandments”, said Msgr. Ćosić.

As an example for the believers he puts St. Anthony the Great, who sold all his wealth and gave it to the poor, went to the desert because he aspired to be like Jesus. Wondering if there is anyone among us who is willing to sell out all their belongings and go to live with nothing, Msgr. Ćosić explained: “St. Anthony, all his life sought to become like Jesus, whom he believed and followed. It is not considered sufficient only to keep the commandments of God, but he wanted at any cost and with the greatest possible sacrifice to become a real martyr, as Jesus needed him. He wanted to embody and enliven every word that is coming out of Jesus’ mouth. He literally lived the Gospel - was for a human being living Gospel. In him, people could very easily see Jesus.”

Msgr. Slađan pointed out that we Christians are called to live our faith in Jesus, called to be perfect, try hard about it, and that is keeping God’s commandments and following Jesus.

He explained that from this great saint can be learned to believe that the only true wisdom comes only from the mouth of God and that we as believers of God need to listen to God, carry out God’s wish, and live by God’s wish, learn from St. Anthony how to be holy, and to resist the temptations of Satan.

“We live in a world full of temptation, which want to get us away from God. Let’s not fall in the traps of the evil one, resist him as all the saints resisted him. We pray to St. Anthony the Great to support us in all our efforts to put the Lord is the centre of all of our good and dedicated work of love, to bless us, strengthen our faith and give strength to keep his commandments and live by them, to earn eternal life, and like St. Anthony become worthy of God’s love and friendship”, concluded the Vicar General.

Let us mention that the feast was preceded by a spiritual preparation on Saturday and Sunday, 15^th and 16^th of January. On Saturday after the Holy Mass, a dinner was organised as well as a social game of ring that has continued on Sunday after the Holy Mass. Joyful gathering through all three days were attended by the parishioners and their friends who participated in both the Holy Mass celebrations and on socializing with a common meal in the recreation centre.